Our favorite looseleaf, concentrate, and blends for all of your chai needs.

No disrespect to Oprah, but when it's prime mitten-hat-glove season and we want a deep mug of chai, we either make our own (cue this stellar Lahore Deli Chai), or rely on a select few pre-packaged blends and concentrates. These are the ones we love most:

Samovar Masala Chai Black ($17)

Samovar Tea and Chai

Photo courtesy of Samovar Tea & Chai

Tea bars are the new coffee shops, and Samovar is one of the spots leading the charge. Can't get out to San Francisco to kick it at one of its tea lounges on a whim? Samovar packages its organic and single-origin teas—including Masala Chai Black, a sweet-spicy blend of Chinese black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and clove—for online ordering. Dissolve sugar in the water before brewing, so it doesn't all sink to the bottom; by the time you add the milk, you'll be all set.

Prana Chai Masala Blend ($20)

Prana Chai

Photo courtesy of Prana Chai

Prana's chai blend was born and perfected in the land down under in Melbourne . But shops like Cafe Moka in Virginia Beach, Bluestone Lane and Butcher's Daughter in New York, and Temo's Cafe in San Francisco, are bringing it Stateside. Not to mention, there's a little boutique called the internet [LINK] where you can purchase a bag of the incredibly fragrant blend of 100% black Ceylon tea, Australian bushland honey, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, peppercorns, cloves, and fresh ginger to have at the ready whenever cravings strike. Serve it the way Bluestone Lane does: Drizzle honey into an empty glass and sit a small fine mesh strainer over the cup. Pour a mixture of chai steamed in milk over the strainer, and enjoy sweet liquid bliss.

Dona Chai Chai Tea Concentrate (Two for $24)

Photo courtesy of Issy Croker & The Magic Elephant

The only concentrate to make it onto our list, Dona Chai, is a Brooklyn-based company that small-batch brews its never-too-sweet chai from fresh ginger, cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, black peppercorns, and loose-leaf black tea. It also helps that it's served at some of our favorite coffee shops, including Propeller and Sweetleaf, usually mixed with silky steamed milk (or almond milk, if you're feeling fancy).

Chai Wallahs of Maine Spiced Chai with Assam Black Tea ($10)

Photo courtesy of Ruthie Ellis

Potent but not overpowering, Chai Wallahs of Maine has that serious ginger and cardamom punch you'd experience from a cup poured by a vendor in India. Pro tip: boil it in half-milk, half-water. It's a small touch that leaves your cup rich and milky but never too overwhelmingly thick and creamy.

Firepot Nomadic Teas Masala Chai Loose Leaf ($7.99)

Tyler Burrus

Photo courtesy of Tyler Burrus

The chai out of Nashville that'll make you feel good about your life choices. Every ingredient in Firepot Nomadic Teas' Masala Chai Loose Leaf is organic and Fair Trade-certified; the promise is that one percent of sales goes to "the empowerment of women and preservation of wildlife in tea origins." It also tastes exactly as it should: A mix of cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, ginger, black pepper, cloves, and black tea blend sourced from India and Africa.

Bollywood Theater Masala Chai ($10)

Photo: Courtesy of Bollywood Theater

Pop into chef Troy MacLarty's popular Bollywood Theater restaurant in Portland and you'll get Indian street food like kati rolls and chaat, washed down with bottomless cups of chai. Working with The Reluctant Trading Experiment, the restaurant now sells its proprietary masala chai blend of Indian Assam black tea, green cardamom, cloves, black pepper, ginger, bay leaves, and fennel seeds so we can recreate the experience at home. There is nothing watered down or faint about the the flavor; it's the real deal.

Tipu's Original Slow Brew Indian Chai ($8.95)

Mark Lannen Photography

Photo courtesy of Mark Lannen Photography

When tea expert Kathy YL Chan opts for a pre-made mixture, she likes Tipu's Original Slow Brew Indian Chai best. We have founder Bipin Patel's grandmother's recipe to thank for the blend, now packaged in Montana, and made with organic Assam tea and non-irradiated (irradiation is a type of sterilization) spices. It's heavy on cardamom, nutmeg, and fennel—and adding grated ginger to milk before steeping takes it to its kicky full potential.